Overwatch Reinhardt vs Reinhardt Mind Games Guide

by wackygonz

Oh the Rein v Rein match up, probably the most stressful and entertaining match up in all of Overwatch. Both Rein’s have shatter and whoever lands their shatter first win’s the team fight. In this post I would like to give ideas, tips, and advice on how to block enemy shatters and land your own.

The Basics

1. Being Unpredictable: Everyone has tendencies, some people will strafe a certain direction, other’s will hold at certain positions, and Rein players will have certain times they will put up their shield. That’s why being unpredictable is easier said than done. My best advice for Rein players to win the shatter battle is be creative on their shield timings. Hold shield, drop, hold for 4 seconds, swing, or swing, drop shield for 2 seconds, hold for 5. Be creative, think of different timings and you’ll keep the enemy Reinhardt guessing.
2. Tracking the Enemy Reinhardt’s Shatter: Pretty important thing to know, if you want to win the Rein vs Rein probably a good idea to recognize when he has shatter. General rule of thumb is if you have your shatter then the enemy Rein probably has his.
3. Reading the Enemy Reinhardt: Just as you should be unpredictable, it’s important to also read how the Reinhardt plays to try to land your own shatter. My favorite indicator on how the Rein plays is when they use fire strike. A lot of low level Rein’s spam fire strike when they already have shatter or they fire strike the first thing they see. Abusing this by counting down when the enemy Rein’s fire strike comes off cool down and then landing your shatter is a guarantee to get big value. Other examples could include the Rein’s swing and shield tempo where they will often swing at certain situations then drop their shield.
4. Know Where the Enemy Reinhardt is: I don’t know how many times I stayed at a flank and waited for the enemy team to push in and the enemy Rein just walks in not realizing where I went. Too late, now your whole team is shattered. Lesson: If you don’t see the Reinhardt in front of you then he’s probably somewhere lurking (more on this later).
5. Assert Your Dominance: Just like 2 deer fighting during mating season it is time to assert your male dominance. If you’ve been losing the pin battle the entire game then most likely the enemy Rein has your number. You need to turn it around and swing that hammer baby. DON’T BACK DOWN! BE THE ALPHA!

Blocking Shatter Techniques

– These tips will vary in different elos as the higher you get the smarter the Rein players and may not fall for this.

1. The 180 Block: One of the classic ways to bait out the enemy shatter is to simply turn around and pretend you’re trying to help your team. The enemy Rein will see that and go for the shatter, but little do they know it was the plan all along and you hit ’em with the turnaround shield.
2. The Drop Down Block: My personal favorite way to block shatters but extremely difficult to pull off. This can happen in very select maps as you don’t want to drop down too high as there will be no chance to block it to save your team and you don’t want it too low as then it defeats the purpose of the drop down. So essentially you hide on a high ground knowing that the enemy Rein has shatter, hopefully he doesn’t see you but sees your team and goes for a shatter. All of a sudden you pop up with the big blue rectangle in his face and the enemy Rein will be wondering where the hell you came from.
3. Reaction Block: Pretty self-explanatory, if you trust yourself to react to the sound queue of the enemy Rein’s shatter then go for it. Nothing fancy.
4. Screw Blocking GO FOR THE PIN: Under utilized in my opinion is that instead of both Rein’s waiting for their counterpart to shatter so that they could block it, is instead charging the enemy Reinhardt. Now don’t take this out of context, I’m assuming if you’re reading this that you know it isn’t a good idea to YOLO charge into the enemy team. This is a situational thing where the distance between both Rein’s is close enough so that if you go for the pin the enemy Rein can’t react fast enough if he wants to shatter. Also keep in mind that if you don’t land the pin you expose your team to being shattered. DO THIS PLAY WITH CAUTION.

Landing Shatter Techniques

– Just like blocking, these techniques will be harder to pull off in higher ranks

1. The 180 Shatter: Just like the 180 block the turnaround shatter can just be as entertaining. Just do the same thing but instead of going for the block go for the shatter.
2. The Lurk Shatter: Harder to pull off at higher ranks but still possible. Just lurk in a spot where the enemy team can’t see you, wait for them to push in and BAM 6 man shatter. Side note: Please don’t do this if the situtaion requires you to touch cart or contest point.
3. Stun Shatter: Have to trust your team mate on this one like your Brig, Mcree, Ana, and Roadhog. Countdown when you want them to stun and accounting for voice chat delay land that shatter.
4. Prediction Shatter: The most difficult but in my opinion the most satisfying shatter. Self-explanatory, if you trust yourself to read and predict the enemy Rein then go for it.
5. Pin Into Shatter: Great way to catch the enemy Rein off guard is landing a pin on him. Most Rein’s will swing at you right after because they feel violated that you just dominated them. You thank them for offering you a gift and land that fat slam. POTG.
6. Shattering After Blocking It: Easy reliable way to land shatters, especially in lower elos is that if you block the enemy Rein’s shatter they will go for the pin immediately. Punish him by showing him what a real shatter looks like. Once you hit Masters and higher it’s a lot harder as the more experienced Rein players expect this.

Hope these tips help! Remember…BE THE ALPHA REIN!

*My intention with making these kinds of posts is not to start any controversy but more to give general information to people of all ranks. I understand that some people already know this but keep in mind that, you’re not everyone and there will always be someone who can get something out of this. When I post, I always hope that if 1 person understands a concept then that’s a success, for me, because someone learned something valuable and can apply it to their actual games. The general knowledge of the average Overwatch player is relatively low, not because they don’t try, but because they either are misinformed or they don’t know where to look as Overwatch doesn’t give an in depth tutorial of game sense, communication, and team play. I do my best to explain things for hopefully everyone to understand. If you are going to comment, please make it a comment that adds value to the topic.